TiGr: Titanium Lock as Cool as your Bike

I’m John Loughlin. I am an avid cyclist and love to invent locks of all sorts. I believe that many cyclists hunger for an alternative to existing bike security. Old style lock systems are the antithesis of the thoughtful and efficient machine that is a bicycle. We have an idea for something much better — something as thoughtfully designed as the bicycle itself.
The TiGr is our titanium lock system, it’s secure, versatile, elegant, light, easy to use and easy to store. A really secure bike lock that’s actually sexy.How secure? Check out the TiGr destructive testing videoHow sexy?Keep reading.
The TiGr system includes a flexible Titanium bow and a compact, highlypick resistant lock cylinder. The TiGr bow has a protective coating to protect your bike and stores snugly and unobtrusively on the top tube with simple and light weight straps. The Titanium bow is flexible so you can lock your bike to a variety of structures up to about 5 1/2” in diameter. Depending on your wheel base, rim and tire configuration, you can even lock both wheels (without removal) and frame to a structure. 
The lock body is precision machined from 304 Stainless Steel and the lock mechanism uses a highly pick-resistant and environmentally robust rotary disc key mechanism.  Top tier rewards will be equipped with an Abloy Protec® lock cylinder encased in a precision machined Titanium body. Abloy is the best of the best when it comes to high security locks. The lock body is light and compact (0.5” Diameter x 1.8” Long) and stores easily in your seat bag or pocket.
The Titanium shackle will be available in two widths; 0.75” and 1.25”. The 0.75” provides good securityand light weight and is appropriate for moderate threat scenarios. The 1.25“ version provides a superior level of bike security. Here are some specs (best measurements as of this writing):
TiGr Preliminary Specifications:
Lock Body (SS):   4.3 OZ (120 GR)
Lock Body (Ti):     3.2 OZ (90 GR)
.75” Bow:             11.3 OZ (316 GR)
1.25 Bow:            19.6 OZ (549 GR)
Testing in our workshop demonstrates that the 1.25” titanium bow survives a 48” bolt cutter attack and that sawing is extremely difficult and time consuming due to the ‘springy’ nature of the titanium bow at a third the weight of a common U-lock. Yes, these preliminary tests were done by us with our equipment, your pledge dollars will help fund testing and certification from an accredited third party.
Volunteers have been real world testing the lock for nearly a year and the feedback has been excellent. It’s given us the encouragement and support to get the design patent pending. Now we want to do the next step.
I met Joshua A.C. Newman on Velospace.org when I went there to discuss the viability of TiGr. That's him in the video, and that's his Cannondale. We hit it off immediately and we started working together to bring this design to reality. He's used half a dozen prototypes ever since, from the very earliest to the ones you see here. He brings his design expertise to the challenges of the lock, sending sketches back and forth about usabilitypracticality, andaesthetics, from the color of the coating to way to store the lock when it's not in use. He's making sure the lock is about the same efficient beauty as the rest of the bicycle it integrates with.
Help make the TiGr a reality. The money you pledge will go to design, engineering, fabrication and testing. These limited edition locks will be hand finished and lovingly assembled in my workshop.
Want to know more? Check in at tigrlock.com! We've got more images and updates, on our blog!

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